A back-and-forth battle that many hoped for did not come to fruition; instead, Charles Oliveira put on one of the most dominating performances of his career.
Oliveira scored a dominant unanimous decision over Max Holloway to claim the BMF belt in the main event of UFC 326.
Holloway and Oliveira went at it right away, and Oliveira found the forward pressure quickly, pressing Holloway to the fence and easily landing a takedown. Oliveira got to Holloway's back as he tried to stand, locking in a tight choke, though Holloway managed to fend it off. Holloway had to fend off a face crank in the round's final minute as well.
Oliveira did some trading with Holloway during the first minute of round two, but he quickly got the fight back to the mat, threatening another choke and landing some strong elbows during the round.
Oliveira continued to find the mat in the third and fourth rounds, with Holloway landing nothing of significance.
After a little bit of trading to start the fifth, it was Holloway who was the one to find the mat, scoring a takedown on Oliveira. The fight got back to the feet, and Oliveira got another takedown, sealing the fate of the BMF title.
Holloway got back to his feet and the two traded in the Octagon at the end of the fight, but it was all too late. Oliveira swept the scorecards.
Charles Oliveira Dominates Max Holloway To Win BMF Title At UFC 326
Oliviera claimed the lightweight title at UFC 262. He retained the gold against Poirier but lost the title on the scales. He entered this fight 3-3 in his last six, most recently submitting Mateusz Gamrot at UFC Rio in October.
Holloway, the former featherweight champion, initially won the BMF title by knocking out Justin Gaethje at UFC 300. He then became the first to retain the title when he defeated Poirier at UFC 318.